Ryan Watkins

Tubi has the theatrical cut that clocks in at nearly two hours. There's not enough story to fill that time. The romance subplot, the abusive neighbor, the gas station bully, the trip to D.C., there were a lot of places that could have been trimmed down.

Speaking of John Williams, this score is not particularly good either. Not often distractingly bad, but certainly not good. There are a handful of cheesy stings, bland movements and uninspired backdrops. If there was an attempt at cutting costs, it may have started here.

Dude. Jurassic Park came out a year after this movie. Spielberg shmaltz, totally, but I can't deny how incredible it looked at the time and how well it holds up today. The Lawnmower Man does not hold up visually.

Things pick up a bit in the back half after Jobe gets his powers, but it's still a slow burn. Probably too slow for a film that is relying on the novelty of the animation to carry us through the story. Not really a great candidate for a late night showing.

I can't get over the fact that Fahey looks like Rex Manning and Brosnan has strong George Michael vibes. It's kind of distracting.

This movie was groundbreaking for the time. Wikipedia says the budget was $10 million. I'd guess a sizable chunk of that budget went into the CG. It's silly now, but man, there hadn't been anything else like it before. I remember it being a big deal.

This isn't bad because of production or casting or technical shortcomings or audio quality. It's bad because it's dumb. The Matrix is kind of dumb, too, if you dive beneath the surface, but it had the intangible quality of being cool. This movie is not cool. It's a sci-fi argyle sweater vest.

The premise is pretty dumb. A futuristic Flowers for Algernon, coated in 90s CG and dated style. Brosnan smokes constantly. It's weird to see someone smoking on screen. He's a bit one dimensional and flat, but otherwise fine. Fahey has the unenviable task of portraying a man with special needs. Eek.

Bad Movie Reviews: The Lawnmower Man (1992). Brett Leonard directed this marvel of early 90s cinema. Boy, did we think VR was gonna be something huge 30 years ago. I've always thought Keanu Reeves was in this for some reason, but no, the film stars Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey.

I like Anika Nilles. From what I've seen, she's clearly capable of playing and creating at the same sort of level that fans have come to expect. Plus, she's hot as hell. I don't think I'll make the effort to travel to see a show, though. Not because of Anika. It's just not the same anymore.

On the other, it doesn't feel right without Neil there. He wasn't the first person to drum in Rush, and now he won't be the last. Peart was such a large component of the band that his void takes up a massive amount of space. Is it really Rush now? Certainly not the same Rush.

On one hand, I'm glad they've found a way to continue on for the fans that want to see them live. I remember thinking I'd never have the chance after their post "Test for Echoes" hiatus. It made my year when Vapor Trails was announced with the supporting tour.

I've seen Rush in concert five or six times over the years, likely more than any other major musical act. I have conflicting feelings about the reunion with Anika Nilles stepping in on drums to replace Neil Peart.

The new season of Futurama has no real emotional weight and lacks much of the cleverness of past iterations. The series has had three very good finales, but the Hulu revival has added little, perhaps even detracted, to the series' legacy. It's just disappointing to this long-time fan.

I wish I could be excited about Tron: Ares. I liked Tron: Legacy quite a bit and was holding out hope that we'd get a continuation of that story on the big screen.

Just saw the teaser trailer for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic. It feels weird to me to tell these stories while artists are still alive, but the longer they're gone, the more removed from public consciousness they are. That makes sense, I guess. I'm not the target demographic.

YouTube video by Flashgitz SPACE KING 3 - The Imaginator

Praise be to Space King. @flashgitz.bsky.social dropped episode three! youtu.be/KFgU_Rtta2w?...

I finished The Fractured But Whole last night. It was fun, easy enough to put down and come back to after a few days, and it felt more like a four episode special than The Stick of Truth.

Game launchers are stupid and lame and dumb and gross. #PCGaming

The change to the battle system is pretty great. The story has been good so far, but it'll be hard to match that initial TSoT playthrough. That game blew my mind when it was released.

When I finished Final Fantasy X, I figured I'd jump right into FFX/2, but my enthusiasm just wasn't there after the little introduction scene to start the game. I picked The Fractured But Whole up instead and have enjoyed the game so far. The Stick of Truth is an all-time favorite.

I started a new job last month. It's been pretty solid so far. The shine hasn't worn off, and no skeletons have fallen out of any closets yet. I've not adjusted to the new schedule. I'm staying awake too late and getting up too early. So sleepy all the time.

Final verdict: Final Fantasy X was pretty good, but it was probably a masterpiece when released. There was a lot to like and a few things to be frustrated by during my playthrough. Solid. Not great, especially compared to other, newer games I've played recently. 7/10.

This made the final confrontations painfully easy. Like, three or four character actions and the game was over. There's a better balance between getting decimated in the post game and defeating the antagonist in two hits. I don't feel the need to go back and finish the aeons or extras now.

I decided to do some of the post-game content before going off to fight the big bad. Really wish I hadn't done that. I realized that I would need to grind for a very long time to comfortably take out the dark aeons and got bored walking back and forth in the Omega Ruins.

The story was good but a little simple. The graphics were probably first class when the Remaster came out, but not everything got the touch-up. There were a ton of PS2 faces and plenty of expressionless dead eyes throughout. The remade cutscenes were generally very pretty.

I kept having to remind myself that it was a game from 2001. Games have progressed by leaps and bounds since then. Hell, even since the remaster was released a decade later. FFX felt like a game from a previous generation. It felt small compared to the RPGs I've played more recently.

I finished Final Fantasy X HD Remaster last night and have conflicting thoughts about it. If I had played the game when originally released in the early 2000s, I'd probably rate this version more highly and might even consider it one of the best games ever made. It probably was when it came out.

Thankfully, I will rock a plaid shirt. Those seem to be evergreen. I really just need Fall to hurry up so I can wear hoodies to work every day.